iOS 18 non-report name-drops Smart Song Transitions, Passthrough, Spatial Gaming
iOS 18 apparently includes Smart Song Transitions on Apple Music, Spatial Gaming and a new Passthrough audio feature for Apple Music and QuickTime.
Marko Zivkovic at AppleInsider has learned that the crossfade option in the Music app might receive some AI love, but the story is short on facts.
For context, Apple brought the crossfade option in the iPhone’s Music app with the release of iOS 17. The same feature has been available on the Mac for ages.
When enabled, it starts to fade out the current song as it draws closer to its end while gradually increasing the volume for the next song. Plus, you can drag the slider to adjust the crossfade duration between 1-12 seconds.
What’s so smart about Smart Song Transitions?
So, how exactly are Smart Song Transitions supposed to work? That’s a good question. Having read Zivkovic’s article three times, I still don’t have any idea.
This is his description of the feature:
Smart Song Transitions will take this feature even further, by giving users the option to adjust the duration of the crossfade effect. Song transitions can be made to last anywhere from one to twelve seconds, depending on personal preference.
Except we can already do that! The author claims that the existing crossfade option and the option to disable the feature won’t be removed.
He says the audio improvements in iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS 15 will include a “mysterious” Passthrough feature for Apple Music and QuickTime Player.
Spatial Gaming and Passthrough “on supported hardware”
An expert from the report:
The Music app will also introduce support for a feature dubbed “Passthrough,” which will only be available on supported hardware. What that supported hardware is, remains unclear at this time.
Let me intervene briefly. No need to frame the Passthrough feature as “mysterious.” The word literally means passing a signal through with no modifications.
Zivkovic goes on to speculate that the Passthrough feature could be a new marketing name for Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos:
Renaming Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos to the simple “Passthrough” would seemingly fit this pattern, while also allowing for a significantly shorter name. Ultimately, though, we don’t yet have a great deal of information about the feature as it exists now.
Sorry man, but calling spatial audio “Passthrough” makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
The Passthrough feature will “be available without an Apple Music subscription, meaning it will likely be accessible to everyone.” Imagine that! My inner copy editor screams from the top of their lungs, “If something isn’t behind a subscription paywall, then it’s ‘accessible to everyone’ by design!”
Apple is also testing something called Spatial Gaming. “Although there are no concrete details about the exact implementation of these features-they align with Apple’s overall interest in spatial computing,” writes Captain Obvious.
Thanks for nothing!
This is one confusing report, and that’s not the first time Zivkovic has published a long story that can be summarized in a sentence.
A good example is this report about mathematical notation in Notes. Zikovic’s source didn’t show him the feature in action, prompting him to say that “the exact implementation of this new feature, however, remains to be seen.” Good to know.
In another one, he says macOS 15 will bring a revamped Calculator app with “a new history tape in the form of a sidebar that displays an overview of earlier calculations.” We needed an article to tell us that the current history tape in Window > Show Paper Tape will get a sidebar instead of a separate window, like today.
Zivkovic was a contributor for MacRumors from 2023 to 2024. He now writes at AppleInsider, where his bylines states that “Marko has revealed countless details on Apple’s upcoming product” throughout his career.
Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2024/05/22/ios-18-rumor-apple-music-smart-song-transitions-passthrough-spatial-gaming/
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